Charlie Jane Anders

I've watched this trailer for Scarlet, a new TV miniseries, three or four times without actually understanding what the show is. She's a fashion model and a movie star, and some old guy screams into the telephone that she's going to change television forever. And meanwhile, she beats up ninjas, does the Batman power-grapple thing, and has weirdly glowing red eyes. Oh, and a group of men follow her around while she tells them they're overlooking crucial evidence. But does this show have a plot, or just lots of posing and kicking? Click through for more details.

I would probably just ignore this show, or chalk it down to a spoof, it wasn't created by David Nutter, who directed the pilots of Smallville, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Supernatural, Dark Angel, Space: Above And Beyond, and various other shows. He's become known as the go-to guy for pilots, because his pilots have a higher-than-average batting average of getting a show to series. And he's worked on a lot of science fiction, including several episodes of the X-Files and M.A.N.T.I.S.

Scarlet stars Natassia Malthe, who appeared in such fine films as Bloodrayne II and Alone In The Dark II. The miniseries' official website refers to it as a "hit TV show" (which seems a bit optimistic) and says it's coming out at the end of the month... but no mention of which network it'll be on. Is it direct to DVD? Or online somewhere? I'm not sure. (As someone says on IMDB, "It seems a little off.") I actually spent a fair bit of time today trying to talk to Nutter's reps to find out the deal. But the trailer is so awesomely over-the-top and Alias-esque, I figured I should share it. [Scarlet: The Series]